Behind the Lens

During one of my trips this summer, I took a photo I really liked and it made me want to round up my favorite photos from some of my travels. Plus, I haven't posted in a while and was feeling long overdue.

I took all but one with one of my Motorola smartphones (Moto X, DROID 2, and Moto Z). A lot were taken during trips for work, and no matter how many times I go, I have yet to get a photo out of Barcelona that I am in love with. I considered one photo of Las Vegas I like a good bit and one of Shanghai, but didn't feel those were of the same caliber as the set below.

So without further delay...

Tokyo - January 2016

I was walking from my hotel towards the Shinjuku district just sight-seeing by myself, and walked across this incredible street. It was the perfect combination of a sea of people, neon lights everywhere, and a building for every five steps you took. With no oncoming traffic, I stood in the middle of the street and snapped away.

Singapore - October 2014

A bit of an older photo for me, and it shows. I was running around the Marina Bay and saw this incredible, modern skyline in the background with this stunning Louis Vuitton shop in the foreground. A more patient Khaner would have waited for the people to leave the frame, but a good lesson I would later incorporate...below!

Beijing - June 2017

I just finished a Saturday morning presentation to my CEO and a room full of executives. I could either let jet lag and stress take over, or get on the local clock. I chose the latter and actually got to exploring Beijing. For a city I've been to...8 times (???), I actually haven't gone on foot much other than to the Forbidden City. The above photo was a reflection of patience, a lot of varied angles, and a lot of varied viewpoints. I think in the end, I got this one right.

Raleigh - April 2014

I had just been promoted, and at the time of this photo, feeling very nervous the day before my biggest work event of the year -- one (thanks to said promotion) I was in 100% in charge of. After running a quick errand, I took this on my way back in for script read thru with my production staff and late evening rehearsals. A personal memento.

Breckenridge - March 2017

I just received my new Moto Z, and while loving the phone, was very much missing the standard "Google Photo Gallery" app. In toying with the cloud-based app that was storing my photos, the service actually did me a solid. It took an otherwise average photo I took, and jazzed it up with some color definition - heightening the rays from the setting sun, and the colors of the trees and storefronts.

Alnwick Castle - August 2015

This is the only one taken from an actual camera, you know, it ONLY took photos. My favorite part of England was definitely the northern part in a county called Northumberland. My father in law literally grew up a few miles from Alnwick Castle, and we immediately understood what he had been telling us when he said the other castles we had been seeing "were crap!" To be fair, I really liked Blenheim Palace, Windsor Castle and the rest, but this view is one for the ages. Looking back, I wish I had a better camera as I would have done a bit better with the zoom control. Probably would have framed the Darlings a bit more off right with the castle zoomed in on. But, still a good one nonetheless.

Lago Como - April 2017

I actually took a lot of photos I really liked of Northern Italy, Lago Maggiore, Milano, and Lago Como. But the one I thought best encapsulated this trip was cold white wine, olive oil, a light Italian lunch, and the mountains surrounding Lake Como in the background. I will always remember this trip with two things firmly in mind: 1) the view from our hotel room of Lago Maggiore 2) the wine and FOOD!

Lisboa - February 2016

Wrapping up this post is a somewhat rare selfie (I delete most after sending them to Caroline). I had a few hours to explore Lisbon, and literally started at the top. There is this giant main street that starts at the top of this hill (the tip of which is a park). From there it leads you all the way downhill to the waterfront. Thought it was only fitting to end with a photo with the camera focused on me instead of others.

ESPN Layoffs, Trump, Twitter, and Us

The link between broadcast networks and newspapers? Disappearing journalists.

Earlier this week ESPN announced it was laying off 100 employees, which ESPN President John Skipper outlined who was on the receiving end in a letter to employees:

Dynamic change demands an increased focus on versatility and value, and as a result, we have been engaged in the challenging process of determining the talent – anchors, analysts, reporters, writers and those who handle play-by-play – necessary to meet those demands.

The outcry was swift, and along the lines of "how does veteran reporter XYZ get canned, but talking blowhole ABC keep their job?!" The answer? You, us....we want to watch talking mouthpiece, and we're no longer tuning into the facts fueling these 'hot takes' (albeit, carefully thought through and normally well articulated). The ratings show this and advertisers know this, so follow the money folks.

The takeaway: Viewers do not want to be bothered with regular reporting anymore, we want opinions only please.

Are we surprised?

We just had an election outcome (painfully for some, gleefully for others) that illustrated this point on the grandest of stages. Say what you will about left vs. right, our society as a whole is simply not tuning in like we used to. We consume media that supports our interests, and attack outlets counter to those views.

Sure newspapers slimmed down because the Internet took a hatchet to the classifieds, but how many of us want to read rows upon rows of tiny words anymore? Give it to us in the headline in my Facebook feed please and thank you.

What's left? Either nodding our heads in vigorous agreement or disagreement with the day's latest outrage. Indeed, the only thing that we can all agree on nowadays is that it's cool to be outraged.

While I don't support him, I honestly can't fault our president for speaking to us in the medium we prefer and use on the hour. We're there...furiously scrolling as we walk across the street, while we push our kids on the swing, etc. etc. etc.

Context is dead. And if you really want to find it, the remnants can be seen on the highly-curated walls of our Facebook feed.

Inserted here would be some closing opinion on how to change the world...my 'hot take.' But that's kind of the point of today's entry, so.... _________________________.